The CAT 100%iler we did not claim

Rickshesh Manchanda’s story is one of rare, sheet brilliance. He scored a 100%ile at CAT-2018. Although he has been claimed as a student by at least 2 reputed institutes – *IM* and IM* – (we are not sure if there are any others in the fray as well), his interview with Careers 360 should lay to rest any such claims, as he clearly says it was his last year’s preparation along with some tests he practiced this year (so, he may have been a Test Series student at one or more of this coachings) that helped him nail the 100%ile. MBAGuru is still not making a claim to his 100%ile performance – because he was not our classroom student at CAT-2018 while he was working.

But in the final year of his graduation, when he appeared for CAT-2017 and cracked an almost equally impressive 99.99%ile, he was a classroom student at MBAGuru. And the fact that he didn’t need a classroom coaching this time around indicates 2 things –

(a) He is inherently gifted as far as exams like CAT go and

(b) the ADAPTIVE Prep he undertook at CAT-17 was solid enough for him to know where he really stood and what he needed next

The truth is that such brilliant students, although rare, would crack the CAT regardless of which CAT Coaching they join (or whether they join it). We are proud of him and as proud of his 100%ile without our guidance as of his 99.99%ile last year with our classroom coaching. That he trusted ADAPTIVE Prep at MBAGuru when he prepared is what means a lot to us.

Apart from his obvious brilliance, his story is one of courage – he let go of the options he had at 99.99%ile because he wasn’t sure about his MBA plans then. And then once he was clearer, he went on that extra mile to add that lovely little 0.01%ile to his CAT-17 performance. What he did in his final year though was to keep and build both options – job and MBA. That gave him the luxury of choice.

His clarity of thought and self-belief are two things we can look to emulate, even if not everyone of us can mimic his 100%ile (or the 99.99%ile for that matter).